The jury brought back "guilty" verdicts for Dr. Christopher Thompson on six felonies, and one misdemeanor stemming from his July 4, 2008 assault on two cyclists riding down Mandeville Canyon. Thompson’s request that he be released on bail has been denied. He was found guilty of 2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon (245a) 2 counts of Battery
with Serious Bodily Injury (243d) reckless driving (23103a) and
reckless driving causing specified injury (23105a) and Mayhem (203). Thompson faces up to ten years in prison for the charges and will be sentenced on December 3.

“Both sides got what they deserve… aggressive drivers, inconsiderate bicyclists… I am glad at the final outcome.”

GPS evidence that the prosecutor brought forth (from the bicyclists GPS units) showed the cyclists’ speed to be around 27 and 28mph right before the assault. As a veteran cyclist and LCI I will tell you that at that speed the proper place for the cyclists was in the middle of the road, taking the lane. It is even more important to take the lane on curvy road at speed because a cyclist needs the extra room to navigate the road safely.

I ask you, Glenn, would you ever consider passing a car or a motorcycle traveling 28 to 27mph on a curvy 35mph road in a no-passing zone? How does riding a bike require the overtaking driver to pass and for the cyclist to give way?

IT DOESN’T!

Glen Youngman

If you ever break your face in an accident, use this section of the law books to cover your wounds… quit being so smug… both sides were at fault… the only difference is that Thompson’s act was a felony.

At fault implies that Peterson caused his own injury. Name one thing to support your position…

Pants Yabbies

How is a bicycle travelling 27-28 mph on a 30 mph road a slow-moving vehicle?

Also, CVC 21654(a) reads “as far to the right as practicable”. As Andy B stated, the middle of the lane is the safest place when travelling this fast.

Glen, I’m curious to know how much you ride or walk your city (or are you just trolling)?

I think that most cyclists take umbrage with being found at fault so much when we get shoved off of the road daily by several-thousand-pound vehicles on a daily basis. Granted I can be rude and aggressive at times, but curtailing that behavior only serves not to egg people into getting out of their cars looking for a fight. When I’m polite and assertive I still get buzzed and right-hooked constantly.

Ace

Did the GPS records show that the bikers sped up or slowed down in the exchange of words? I don’t know the answer.

Many parts of the world when you tell someone to “F” off or yell something at them, you can expect to get hit. Unfortuneately in this case it was with a car. (I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the jury said yes.) I personally believe that he was trying to scare them.

I know for a fact that residents of mandival canyon have a long historic problem and continue to have a problem with bikers. I don’t know if the “victims” are included in this. I have heard that the police have been asked to monitor bikers in mandival canyon (before and after incident) for their “militant behavior”. This was only partially admissable in court to my understanding.

It is my understanding that the civil suit was settled months ago. Insurance companies agreed that it was an ACCIDENT. I don’t believe this was admissable in court. Typically insurance companies will deny a claim of their own insured if they believe that their insured was intentional in their actions.

One of state’s witnesses just concocted a story about having a run in with Thompson on a date when Thompson was working or out of town. What is his punishment for perjury? Will the states attorney charge him when he was a witness for her? Doubt it.

The state had a recorded telephone conversation of one of the witnesses. Is it illegal to record a phone conversation without someone’s approval? Yes, it is. Was it admissed as evidence? Yes, it was. Will anyone (I believe it was the police or state’s attorney who made recording) be prosecuted for illegally taping a conversation? I doubt it.

“Many parts of the world when you tell someone to “F” off or yell something at them, you can expect to get hit.”

Fortunately we don’t live in one of them. Or would that be your preference?

“I personally believe that he was trying to scare them.”

So you consider this acceptable behavior at 30 MPH? A drunk driver who fails to kill someone is no better than a drunk driver who causes deaths – he’s just luckier. That’s why additional charges were levied in the incidents that didn’t cause physical injury.

“Typically insurance companies will deny a claim of their own insured if they believe that their insured was intentional in their actions.”

This depends on how much it costs them to deny the claim, and the size of the claim. Insurance Companies are businesses, not trial courts. If Peterson had died, the claim could run into the millions and you can bet that the Insurance company would be fighting. As it stands, even though the picture was horrific the total costs were probably minimal. I was hit by a driver and her insurance company just paid the bills and cut me a ten thousand dollar check for my trouble, without really even trying to investigate fault – in a case where I had no police report to back me up.

Like on the KPCC report on November 3, 2009, this topic brings out the douche bags amongst us who assume that everyone on a bike is some sports fiend putting in their miles.

I wonder, do I even figure into their assertions about cyclists when I’m shopping on my bike? Riding my daughter to see her mom at lunch time on my days off, or to the park, or out to the bank on an errand?

You clowns have turned someone using a bicycle into some bizarre stereotype of a thin, male, riding an expensive bike in tight clothes – I live and work around cyclists all day long, and those guys are very few and far between in the circles I ride in.

This whole “those bike riders are selfish/reckless/etc.” line is indicative of a deep an abiding ignorance in the factual state of affairs in our streets. Wake up – this is not about sport cycling, but about the basic rules of civil life in the city.

You may sit in your little metal shell pretending that you’re an independent little cog, doing your duty as a consumer – but you’re a belching prick to those that have to put up with the infrastructure and planning associated with the device you are paid (collectively through state subsidies) to use.

Interestingly, the normally pro-car, anti-mass transit John & Ken show (the top rated radio talk show in the state) has taken the bicyclist’s side on this, probably because their newscaster is a frequent charity cyclist who knew the Mandeville Canyon cyclists. So the story has penetrated through to a different demographic primarily due to a personal connection.

joe

My Favorite line so far
“Bikers need to obey laws just as much as cars”

I think Drivers of cars break the law on a regular basis. When is the last time you didn’t break the speed limit? When is the last time the wheels on your car actually stopped moving when you came to a stop sign? How about that cell phone you keep texting on or that time you were at the bar and had to go home a bit earlier then you planned and thought, heck I can make it home its only 4 miles.

As a driver/cyclists/motorcyclist people in cars do some really dumb things. Lately I’ve been seeing many cars people make right hand turn at speed from the 2nd lane over.

And really all these dangerous drivers who are they most likely to hurt….

THE PEDESTRIAN!!!

LAPD has been doing a shit job at enforcing traffic laws (for everyone). Its so bad that there has been talk of increasing the speedlimits in the valley cause LAPD can’t enforce them currently. (see past street blog posts)

Everyone needs to driver safer. And frankly what I see is that drivers are uncomfortable when the see a bike. They don’t know what the hell to do and they get mad cause nobody likes to feel that way. I think everyone needs to take a breath and relax.

I certainly hope cyclists obey more traffic laws then cars. Cause if you want us to do the same as cars, its going to be hell.

In addition. If any car centric people out there are really annoyed by cyclists, the only way this is going to improve is for the city of los angels to build serious bike infrastructure. We are behind most major cities in building bike infrastructure. Dallas Tx is building 50 miles of bike lanes this year, NYC is building twice that, LA has maybe 10 miles at the most of bike improvement this year. These improvements that are being built in other cities have proven to reduce conflict and just make things easier for everyone.

Cyclists are not going away, Cycling in the US has increased 47% since 2000 and the next time you see the gas prices go up, you will see more people out there. So why not use this passion to solve then just argue.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Stephen Box spent the morning at the La Cienega Courthouse to bring us the news on the progress of the trial for Dr. Christopher Thompson, the "road-rage" doctor that allegedly tried to kill a pair of experienced cyclists on July 4th for riding two abreast on a two-lane road. For those of you that are […]

The trial of Dr, Christopher Thompson begins today, but there are other cases worth watching. The wheels of justice grind slowly and sometimes it’s hard to believe that the system is working but a survey of the legal landscape in LA County reveals that there are several cases working that should be of great interest […]

The image that strated it all. For more images of the crash, visit the original Streetsblog story. Reporting live from the courthouse, Danny Jimenez, aka DJ Wheels, reports that the defense’s motion for probation was denied in the case of the Mandeville Canyon Road Rage Doctor. Dr. Christopher Thompson will receive five years in jail […]

Yes, bike riders are subject to the same laws drivers are. Maybe Santa Monica police and prosecutors wanted to send that message loud and clear. Maybe they wanted to make an example of one reckless cyclist so other bicyclists would straighten up and ride right. But to do it, they slapped a reckless, red light […]

The Post reports that the jury has reached a mixed verdict in the trial of Patrick Pogan, the ex-NYPD officer who was seen by millions of YouTube viewers slamming his shoulder into approaching cyclist Christopher Long during a 2008 Critical Mass ride, sending Long to the pavement. Pogan was found guilty of falsifying records when […]

Ron Peterson, on July 4, 2008 Photo: LAist DJ Wheels, an attorney who happens to be a bicycle rider, has been updating the folks at Midnight Ridazz on the ongoing case of the "Road Rage Doctor" as it is heard at the LAX Courthouse. Wheels was gracious enough to summarize his posts on Monday and […]